Book Review: Where Evil Lives by Ellie Dias

 

The beauty and romance of Paris brings Sam Middleton and Maddie O'Dell together. Will an unknown secret involving Sam's family tear them and their future apart?

Crawling out from underneath his father's withering gaze and abuse, Sam Middleton travels to Paris to study abroad. While there, he meets the sad and beautiful Maddie O'Dell. Hiding her own trauma, Maddie and Sam embark upon a friendship that blossoms into a love that is still tortured by their pasts. 

Upon his return to the States, Sam uncovers a secret that is bound to unravel their tender relationship. Thankfully, they each have treasured friends, but will that be enough to help them when more tragedy strikes and the secret that Sam has tried to bury is exposed in their very own home?

Where Evil Lives by Ellie Dias is a psychological thriller that explores the origin of evil within the confines of a family. What rules--nature or nurture? Does an evil gene exist? And if so, what is the impact on family and friends? 

As the reader follows along with Sam and Maddie on their journey, they are quickly caught up in the setting, the complex characters, and the suspense of what might happen. I feel that Where Evil Lives is a novel where the main characters are pushed to and beyond their breaking point, which makes for excellent reading. Where Evil Lives is a story of a family in crises, where two people still reeling from their own childhood issues, move into adulthood and parenting without a firm foundation underneath them. 

Where Evil Lives is a fascinating story that will have you thinking about it long after you have turned the last page. 

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CW1HY2CV
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ellie Dias (April 2, 2024)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 2, 2024
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 2575 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 304 pages

I purchased a copy of this book for my Kindle. This review contains my honest opinions, which I was not compensated for in any way. I acted in an editorial capacity on this novel prior to publication. 

Coming in April! Big Red by Ellie Dias

Letting go of stuff can be harder than you'd think...even when it’s jammed into a suitcase the size and color of a fire engine.

Seeking to experience simplicity and contentment in the “Happiest Place on Earth,” Dias planned her trip of a lifetime to the Himalayas to the nth degree.

Little did she know that nearly every step would be fraught with challenges, mishaps, and detours. Everything that could go wrong on her spiritual journey did. It was a fiasco that left her wondering whether the Universe—via her Big Red Suitcase—was trying to teach her something.


Ellie Dias, a devotee of Buddhist philosophy, introspection, and yoga, has a graduate degree in Education with a concentration in biology. Her career has been focused on health and wellness as a pediatric nurse, clinician working with families whose babies were at risk for SIDS, a division Vice President of a women’s health care company and a professor. Teaching Anatomy and Physiology, she merged her understanding of the human body with her sixteen-year practice of meditation, incorporating it in a classroom setting.

Writing a book had been percolating in the back of Ellie’s mind, but life got in the way until she was inspired by a solo journey to the Himalayas. Her debut book, Big Red: How I Learned Simplicity from a Suitcase, is a story of challenges, perseverance and humor as she struggles to jettison her Western ways halfway around the world while lugging a 95-pound suitcase—full of what she is convinced are the bare necessities. Common sense should have told her how completely inappropriate all of her “must-haves” were for spending three and a half weeks in the farmlands of Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, and the Nepalese jungle.

Ellie participates in a book club, writing critique group, and is a member of Sisters in Crime. An artist of water color and pastels, she lives with her husband Ron and dog Roxie in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. She has two children, Michael and Michele and two beautiful grandchildren Aidan and Sebastian Dias. She is currently writing her first novel.

Visit Ellie online at http://elliedias.com/